novelraw Chapter 113 : Chapter 113
Chapter 113 : Chapter 113
Chapter 113: Fire and Water (3)
Fire will descend.
Grand Duke Aratus had said so.
Of course, it couldn't be real fire.
Mages are often called by their Origin instead of their name.
Because that is their true self.
It was a similar context to how the Red Tower calls the King ‘the Sun’ and not ‘the woman who possesses the Sun’.
‘Fire.’
Aroshu.
That 4th Rank mage whose Origin is the Bonfire must be the fire Grand Duke Aratus spoke of.
That bastard was a mage of the Otherworld.
And from the Red Tower, at that.
This meant that Grand Duke Aratus had known about the Red Tower even in my past life.
At the conclusion I reached, I let out a dry laugh.
And here I had only found out about the Red Tower's existence after I regressed.
‘Why didn't he tell me?’
In my past life, Grand Duke Aratus and I had a distant relationship.
That wasn't a good enough reason.
He could have told Elaine.
‘Because it was a ruined tower?’
The Red Tower did not exist during the war in my past life.
Perhaps the Grand Duke didn't feel it was worth mentioning that tower.
‘To think he knew someone in the Otherworld.’
The Grand Duke knew that Aroshu was coming down.
This meant he had an informant in the Otherworld.
It must be a mage. Since the Otherworld is a land where only mages live.
“The elder's words were true!”
Aroshu exclaimed with a shout.
“The elder from where?”
“Why, Paradise, of course.”
The mage Grand Duke Aratus knows must be this person called the elder.
‘Their ages must be similar.’
They must have gotten to know each other when Grand Duke Aratus was actively roaming the Boundary.
“Didn't the elder tell you about me?”
“The elder I know and the elder you know seem to be different people.”
“Is that so?”
“The elder I know doesn't live in Paradise.”
“So they are different people.”
Aroshu immediately agreed.
Whether he was naive, or just pretending to be.
“The elder I know told me to meet a fire.”
“The elder I know said the same.”
Grand Duke Aratus and the elder from the Otherworld had arranged the meeting between Aroshu and me.
‘They don’t kill each other, and they stay in contact.’
That was what shocked me.
To have formed such a relationship in the Otherworld. And the Grand Duke, of all people.
“Why did he say to meet?”
“He did not speak of matters that far.”
“The same for me.”
I stared intently at Aroshu.
He was smiling constantly.
As if he was happy to meet the Sun, no, the Star.
“Who is the elder?”
“The elder is the elder.”
“I see.”
“Indeed.”
Just as I was doing, Aroshu was also staring intently at me.
I also kept smiling.
As if I was happy to meet a fire.
“By the way, who is the lady next to you……?”
Aroshu belatedly asked about Ellen.
“Who do you think she is?”
I first bought some time.
Neither Grand Duke Aratus nor the person called the elder had done anything more than arrange a meeting.
‘It must mean they don't tell each other everything.’
Here, I had to make the judgment.
‘Can I trust him?’
No.
Even though Grand Duke Aratus arranged it, Aroshu was an Otherworld mage.
To that bastard, I could not be a mage of Serzila.
“That pit is a hole I dug to hide, after running into a giant last time.”
“Ah. I have heard the story.”
The existence of a 6th Rank Magical Beast seemed to be a rarity even in the Otherworld.
So the story must have spread.
“And this woman is my woman.”
I pulled Ellen's shoulder sharply towards me.
“She followed me all the way here. As you know, the continent is a difficult land for a mage to live in.”
The reason why a non-mage woman was in the Boundary with a mage man.
As far as I could think, there was only one.
“Ah. She must be your wife!”
“Correct.”
Aroshu did not seem particularly surprised.
No, he was even less surprised than I had thought.
This situation did not seem so unfamiliar to Aroshu.
“Indeed! It is rare to see a family hoping for asylum together.”
Rather, it was I who was surprised.
Ellen's body, standing practically in my arms, trembled several times. It must have meant she was that surprised.
It was a fact we were both learning for the first time.
‘There’s already a precedent?’
I recalled the knight Pelatz.
That father who sold out Iagar for the sake of his son who had entered the Liberation Tower.
It seemed there were lovers even more devoted than Pelatz in the Otherworld.
“Truly a Star. Your wife is also very passionate! It must have been a difficult decision.”
Aroshu's eyes shone as he marveled.
“She is Ellen.”
“So you are Lady Ellen. As I said, I am Aroshu!”
Aroshu bowed his head again with great affability.
* * *
Aroshu was a mage to anyone who looked at him.
It wasn't that it was obvious usually.
It was because warmth was manifested around him. That was certainly magic.
“Truly a Star!”
So Aroshu marveled at the warmth felt from my side.
He must have noticed that it was working without mana.
‘Just because one's Origin is fire doesn't mean they are free from the Boundary.’
It was something I had expected.
The Boundary is fundamentally a land where natural fire does not occur.
Of course, fire is still fire.
Aroshu was free from the Boundary with a small amount of mana.
‘Even Psina wouldn't have been to that extent.’
It must be a special quality only the Red Tower possessed.
“I am from the continent.”
“Yes!”
“So there is much I do not know. What is a Star?”
“Oh my. I have been too selfish.”
Aroshu rubbed his face and reproached himself.
Unlike Herbis, his reverence was slick.
“A Star refers to the noble one who serves the King.”
“The next greatest Origin after the King, I presume.”
“That is correct! Sir Harad, you are the one who will become our King’s right arm.”
I nodded my head vaguely.
‘The second-in-command of the Red Tower.’
A being that did not exist in my past life.
Aroshu was convinced that I was that second-in-command.
It was a prejudice created by the Moon's prophecy.
Because the Sun belonged to a woman.
‘It's hard to conceive that she hasn't been born yet.’
Therefore, I was not suspected of being the Sun despite having burned the watchtower.
“So each tower has a Star.”
“……Pardon?”
Suddenly, Aroshu's face contorted.
As if to say, what kind of bizarre nonsense is that.
“Am I wrong? I heard the Tower of the Deep Sea also has a Star called Aquins of the River.”
“The only tower where a Star exists is our Red Tower.”
The area around Aroshu shimmered.
His Origin, responding to his emotion, had created fire.
“The Stars of other towers are fakes. Fakes who falsely claim the title of our Red Tower’s Star!”
Aroshu shouted with a contorted face.
“Ah, ahh. Ahhh! I apologize. I have shown you an unsightly scene!”
It was brief.
Aroshu extinguished the fire. Even the warmth disappeared.
I immediately realized it was a ploy to cool his head with the chill of the Boundary.
It was a method even I had often used in my past life.
“I understand, we are fire.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
Aroshu bowed his head, shivering in the chill of the Boundary.
“A noble Star. The reason other Mages’ Towers falsely claim the title is due to their inferiority complex and arrogance.”
“I see. It must be because the Red Tower lost its King.”
Aroshu's narrow eyes widened.
I realized for the first time that his pupils were black.
“They must have been suppressing only their inferiority complex originally, but it must have exploded recently. Thinking that they could finally make a move.”
“That is correct!”
Aroshu reacted vehemently.
“The insolent bastards.”
“In-indeed, you are a true Star!”
When I played along, Aroshu's reaction became even more vehement.
“Your insight is astonishing.”
“Would I be a Star for nothing?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
Ellen was looking at me with cold eyes.
“What is it, dear?”
“Pardon? ……It’s nothing, dear. It's just the first time since Herbis that I've seen a friendly…… person.”
Ellen seemed awkward with the pretense.
Beyond the arm wrapped around her waist, Ellen's body was trembling slightly.
I pulled her in tighter.
Contrary to my intention, the vibration grew stronger.
However, it didn't seem strange to Aroshu. Because it was the Boundary.
“Herbis! He was a truly praiseworthy junior. When I heard of his death, I could not stop my tears.”
“I agree.”
“Did you happen to see that junior’s death?”
Aroshu's narrow eyes sharpened.
Was it a misunderstanding? I trusted my instincts.
‘A mistake.’
Ellen should not have said that Herbis was friendly.
“He was killed by a bastard from the Ivory Tower named Jesult. A mage whose Origin was Muscle.”
“I see. So the Star avenged our junior.”
“It might not have been revenge. That bastard was talking with us and then suddenly performed a projection. Herbis got caught up in it.”
Aroshu clenched his fist.
He seemed slick, but in reality, he was a fiery man.
‘So I wasn't the only one.’
It seemed to be the fate of mages whose Origin was fire.
“I wanted to dig up information, but I couldn't. I'm too fiery myself.”
“You couldn't have helped it. I can only admire the discipline the Star has reached. To be so calm, even as a Star.”
As expected, it seemed that the greater the power of the fire, the more difficult it became to control one's temper.
‘Torch.’
That was the reason I was holding back my question about him.
If I mentioned him now, I felt it would be hard to control my emotions.
I couldn't get angry while asking for the location of an ally.
“Would I be a Star for nothing?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
This time, I was serious.
“So. Why did Aquins come down? To catch me?”
Aroshu, who had been grinning, shut his mouth.
It seemed that few knew of Aquins's descent to the south.
“Why did you hide it?”
“…….”
His narrow eyes became even thinner.
“It's not that I don't trust you. Rather, I trust you more than anyone after my wife. Because we are the same fire. I believe there must be a reason.”
When I added that, Aroshu soon showed an awkward smile.
“It is because I presumptuously judged that if you knew of Aquins's existence, the Star would not be able to hold back.”
Aroshu saw people of fire as having anger management issues.
Perhaps it was because he himself was fire.
“You were trying to keep me from meeting Aquins.”
Ellen and I were stuck together like a married couple.
But Aroshu spoke while looking only at me.
“Yes. I wanted to escort you safely to the Red Tower.”
He did not seem to be lying.
Aroshu clearly revered the Star that was Harad.
“Is Aquins that much of a threat?”
“How could that be!”
Aroshu jumped.
“He is a fake. It is only for now; the Star is a being who will soon rise to prominence.”
My guess was wrong.
It seemed the Aquins that came down was not the family name, but Aquins of the River himself.
“A fake Star, and a newcomer like Aquins at that, would not dare to even be glanced at.”
“Newcomer?”
My eyes shone.
The Aquins of my past life was an arrogant Star.
“Yes. Aquins rose to the rank of fake Star last year. A fake among fakes.”
Everyone has a past.
Just as the Harad of this time was originally a freeloader, Aquins was also a rookie.
“The Tower of the Deep Sea has no foundation, so they demand many merits from a fake Star. It is because they do not know what a Star is.”
Originally, a Star is a Star simply by existing…… Aroshu muttered for a long while.
I was reminded of Herbis. It seemed the Red Tower mages were each mad in their own different way.
“And yet, Aquins dares to try and make the Star his merit.”
That was the reason why Aquins of the River had come down himself.
His position was very different from my past life. That bastard needed merits.
“The fact that I killed Psina of the Ivory Tower must have been the clue. Correct?”
“Pardon? Yes. Yes! That is correct. To think you have already broken through the truth of the Ranks, as expected……!”
“Get to the point.”
I cut Aroshu off.
Aroshu explained immediately without any sign of being upset. Other than the part about Aquins, everything was as I had expected.
“The Ivory Tower shared the information, and the Tower of the Deep Sea bit. Because Aquins has the pretext that his own bloodline was killed.”
The death of Tyrell Aquins had provided a good opportunity.
“As expected……”
“As expected of a Star.”
I cut Aroshu off again.
Even praise gets tiresome. If I took a shit right here, that bastard would probably marvel at it. Saying that even my shit is thick, as befits a Star.
“The Deep Sea seems to particularly dislike us. Are the other towers like that too?”
“The Tower of the Deep Sea originally has a severe inferiority complex. The other towers are not like that.”
“The other towers dislike us because we oppose the dream of Paradise.”
“Yes, yes. That is correct. You can consider them all as enemies.”
The Deep Sea, because of their inferiority complex.
The other towers, because they oppose the conquest of the continent.
Whatever the reason, it meant that all of them were hostile to the Red Tower.
“I know that the reason we oppose the dream is because the King is absent. If the King returns, do the towers cease to be enemies?”
“Yes. They would not even dare to call themselves enemies. Everyone will look up to our Red Tower. Just as in past history.”
Aroshu said with conviction.
‘No.’
Aroshu's words needed to be taken with a grain of salt.
It might have been like that in the old days, but it wouldn't be now.
It was unlikely that the Red Tower would become as great as it was in the old days just because some mage came and became the King.
Unlike back then, the other towers had grown stronger.
It was a good thing for me.
The Otherworld had to be hostile to each other, and wear each other down.
‘Aquins, who just became a Star.’
Of course, a 5th Rank was a 5th Rank.
But he would be lacking compared to his past life.
I glanced at Ellen.
The distance was close. From my left arm wrapped around her waist, both softness and firmness were transmitted. Ellen did not avoid my eyes. She was asking what I was going to do now.
‘I won’t die, since you’re here too.’
I had said that in front of the tunnel, that I wouldn't die even if I met Aquins of the River.
That was based on his past life, and even then, I was half-convinced I wouldn't die.
“Well then.”
Much less now, when he had just become a Star.
“It seems your worries were right, and I'm just an uncontrollable fire after all.”
“Pardon?”
“I've decided I want to catch and kill him. Aquins of the River.”